Glen
Koops ’69, a Senior Public Health Advisor with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia, was recently appointed
Chief of the Program Operations Branch of the National Immunization Program.
This branch administers a grant program providing funding for vaccines
and operational support to state and local health department immunization
programs.

Mary Jagt
’69 of Oakville, Ont., retired from full time teaching
in 1998. She now enjoys tutoring, teaching piano, playing the organ for
her church, and attending Bible Study Fellowship. Her husband of 33 years,
John Jagt ’70, has been the director of Toronto’s
shelter system for the homeless since 1980. John also volunteers on the
Board of Holland Christian Homes in Brampton, Ont.

Lois Meyer
’69 is the self-employed owner of “Altogether Organized”
in Peoria, Ariz. As a professional organizer, her motto is “A Home
Sweet Home is a Home Neat Home.” She teaches singing for the Joy
School of Performing Arts and began painting watercolors in 1993. Her
watercolors have won several awards.

Robert Tigchelaar
’69 celebrates the graduation of all four of his children
from Calvin, including a daughter, Alisa, who is now teaching at Calvin.
Tigchelaar is the pastor of First Christian Reformed Church in DeMotte,
Ind.

Having served in
politics since 1980, Theodore Vonk ex‘69 is now
the County Commissioner Representative for Plainfield Charter Township,
the 4th largest governing body in Kent County, Michigan. He retired from
Proctor & Gamble as an account manager after 30 years of service.

Jane Noteboom
Vander Haagen ’69 of Okemos, Mich., has been elected to
the Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church of North America.
She is the first laywoman to be elected from a region rather than elected
to an at-large position.

Ronald Sluyter
’67 retired from the Ford Motor Company as a powertrain
engineer after 31 years—10 of which were spent in Hiroshima, Japan
working with Mazda. He and his wife, Katherine, are active in Cornerstone
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brighton, Mich. They look forward to
a retirement of traveling and short-term mission trips.

Hank Boks
’69 retired from the Newaygo County Mental Health Center
as the Executive Director. His wife, Patricia Streelman Boks ex’68,
retired from her work in the library of their local high school in Grant,
Mich. The couple plans to travel around North America and pursue volunteer
opportunities.

Jack Van
Ens ’69 is Vice President and Story Teller for Majesty
Ministries in Avon, Colo. He is one in a trio of musicians who bring a
jazz interpretation to classic hymns. A critic of “worship as entertainment”
Van Ens seeks to rescue the church from what he calls the “7-11”
style of music, “Seven words, sung over 11 times.” His colleagues,
Charles Johnson and Bob Ravenscroft, have ties to the Chicago Lyric Opera,
the Grand Old Opry, and Chicago’s great jazz tradition. Van Ens
supplies the spiritual message between the music.

Jessie DeJong
Schut ’69 of Edmonton, Alb., is a news correspondent for
The Banner, has written several books for CRC Publications and works as
a free-lance writer.

Katherine
Vander Ziel Vandergrift ’69 is a senior policy analyst
in the advocacy department of World Vision Canada – Ottawa, Ont.,
Office. She works on a number of international policy issues such as NGO
effects on children and armed conflict and a Christian approach to child
rights.

After 35 years as
a teacher and school administrator with the Department of Defense Dependents
Overseas Schools (DoDDS) in Italy, Germany, Japan, Midway Island, Philippines,
Korea, The Netherlands and Belgium, Bill Ryskamp ’61 retired
to Anna Maria Island, Fla. His last position was in Brussels as the chief
of staff for the DoDDS Brussels District Superintendent.

Barbara Kuiper
Bloem ’61 has retired from 33 years of teaching, most recently
having taught kindergarten at Jenison Christian School in Jenison, Mich.
She had taught first grade at Muskegon Christian School for eight years
and one year at Sylvan Christian School before moving to Jenison.

Dan F. Bloem
’66 has retired from 24 years on staff at Reformed Bible
College in Grand Rapids. He has served the college as public relations
director and as development representative. Prior to joining the RBC staff,
he had worked in the sales departments at Wolverine Brass Works and at
Stow Davis Furniture Company.

After 30 years of
supervising Clinical Pastoral Education in Germany, Hendrik A.
van Sluijs ’64 will be retiring. This summer he was guest
supervisor for the Seafarer's CPE program in New York City. During the
last ten years he has been summer guest supervisor in the Pacific Region
including Stanford University and Alta Bates in
Berkeley.

Marilyn Poelstra
Decker ’61 recently retired from elementary education after
having completed 30 years in Christian schools in the West Michigan area.
She and her husband, Robert Decker ‘62, live in
Jenison, Mich. and have four children (two of whom are Calvin graduates)
and nine grandchildren.

Lynden (Wash.) Christian
High School teacher Harlan Kredit ‘61 received
the National Environmental Excellence Award from International Paper Company
and The Conservation Fund. The award was accompanied by a $10,000 grant
from the paper company's foundation. The International Paper Environmental
Education Award recognizes a person each year who has shown special skill
in encouraging a better understanding of the complex relationship between
a clean environment and a healthy economy.

Cal Wiegers
’64 along with several Calvin alumni from Pleasant Street
Christian Reformed Church in Whitinsville, Mass., joined a group from
North Carolina to work in Mexico for a week to help with the construction
of an orphanage being built by Tapestries of Life Ministries. This same
organization is also using the services of the Calvin engineering department—a
group of students are presently designing the water system for the complex.
When complete, the building will serve as an orphanage for 300 children
along with the supporting staff.